Summary
Fairfax County government (Virginia, USA) conducted an extensive survey of urban/suburban forests. Measurements such as tree health, impervious surface, and invasive species was used to calculate a quality index with the iTree tool kit. Building on survey results, our team sampled soils and tree roots in a subset of sites representing a range of forest quality index values. Our goal was to determine if aboveground forest quality correlated to belowground soil biomass, microbial community composition, and mycorrhizal fungal abundance. Soil bacterial/archaeal and fungal communities were quantified (qPCR) and characterized (amplicon sequencing). We observed differences in community composition, but not quantity. Putative functional assignments indicated a decrease in ectomycorrhizal fungi wit
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